Sales

Sales Cycle

What Is a Sales Cycle?

A sales cycle refers to the stages a sales representative goes through when selling a product or service. While each sales cycle may vary depending on a business’s unique needs, having a well-defined cycle is critical to sales success.

Develop a sales cycle that provides an organized sequence of sales activities and also helps track opportunities across your team. It allows you to keep track of past, current and future sales opportunities, giving insight into where deals are in progress and where interventions might be needed.

When organized and managed properly, the sales cycle has the potential to help in determining which stages are strengths for certain sales reps versus which seem to be weaknesses based on the length of time a sales plan has been stuck in one stage. It can also help when determining the stage during which most sales are dropped, allowing for the chance to identify the problem and find a solution.

The Stages of a Sales Cycle

Although every sales cycle is unique, most cycles share the following key stages:

  1. Prospecting: This is an important step to start with. When looking for new prospects, consider how your business would describe a good prospect. Then, think about what would be the best way to approach this potential prospect that will capture their interest.
  2. Initiate Contact: It’s important to have a plan of approach when initiating contact with a prospect. Each organization’s preferences are different, but perhaps initiating with a phone call, an email or a hand-written letter will do the trick.
  3. Identify Needs: You cannot benefit your prospect or your business without knowing and fully understanding the needs of your prospects. Be sure to prepare the right questions to ask to discover just what it is your prospect wants and needs from you.
  4. Present Offer: After doing research to gain insight on what it is your prospect wants and needs, formulate a proposal specifically based on those needs and what you can offer your prospect.
  5. Manage Objections: Not every proposal is guaranteed to be accepted the first time it is presented. When formulating your proposal, consider any and all objections and concerns that your prospect may have regarding your plan. Some examples of objections include prices or timeframes. If possible, provide a counter to their concerns, and consider how you can manage these objections.
  6. Close the Sale: If and when your prospect accepts the proposal, it’s time to close the sale. Closing a sale takes years of training and experience, so be sure to put your best sales representatives in action at this stage.
  7. Repeat Sales and Referrals: This stage offers a follow-up opportunity for your clients to gauge their satisfaction. This step may provide you with the chance for repeat sales with your clients and/or potentially lead to referrals to new prospects.

 

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